


Purrplexing Mornings

by Weresilver



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Cat!Ty Grady, M/M, Shapeshifting, This is the result of nonsensical discussions, We call him KitTy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25741930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weresilver/pseuds/Weresilver
Summary: Ty had no idea what he'd done to warrantthiskind of shit happening to him, or evenhowit happened. But he was stuck in a way different body than what he was used to.
Relationships: Zane Garrett/Ty Grady
Comments: 15
Kudos: 27





	1. Discovery

Zane was slow in waking, stretching out on the bed without opening his eyes just yet. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun through the half-open blinds. His hand wandered to the other side of the bed, where a sleepy and pliant Ty should be… But wasn't.

He opened his eyes and turned his head. The other half of the bed was cold and empty, and Zane grunted a complaint. Ty had most likely gone running, and Zane hadn't woken up with the movement. That surprised him more than Ty's quiet exit.

Sitting up, Zane stretched his arms over his head and then stood. He was pretty sure his clothes were in the bathroom. He was in no hurry to clean himself and get dressed, and he returned to the bedroom after some minutes.

Jiminy and Cricket were still on the bed Ty had gotten for them, sleeping, and Zane was almost sure neither of them had moved during the night. He cocked his head to the side. Had Ty fed them before he left? He supposed so, considering neither of them had tried to wake him up to demand food.

But they hadn't come to him for cuddles either, and without Ty in the house, they _always_ did.

He crouched in front of the cat bed and gently ran a finger over Cricket's head. The gray kitty mewed all too sweetly and stretched, pawing her brother's face not too gently. Zane chuckled, patting Jiminy as well.

Assured the two were fine, Zane moved to make the bed, yanking the cover away, and pulling a very much living _something_ with it. The yowl that followed gave him pause, and he watched dumbfounded as a massive cat fell off the bed.

"What the fuck?" Zane was staring at the cat at his feet. The animal had a long brown and white coat, and it looked around with green eyes that came close to gold under the sunlight. "What the hell was he thinking?!"

The cat looked up at him then, eyes wide and clearly confused. Zane didn't move or speak again, lest it decided to attack him. It just blinked at him, sprawled on the floor where it fell. The cats walked up to the newcomer, sniffling at it. Jiminy tilted his head curiously while Cricket, to Zane's surprise, rubbed her head against the new cat's.

He was _pretty_ sure that that was not how the addition of a new cat was supposed to go. Cricket backed away slightly, mewing at the cat twice her size, then rising a paw to its face, much like she would do in order to wake Ty up. Zane snorted at the ridiculousness of the behavior.

"Where the hell did Ty find you?" He grumbled, finally tossing the covers back on the bed and crouching to take a closer look at the cat. It was closer in size to Julian's Maine Coons, and the memory made him wince.

He still reached out to pick the cat up. It meowed loudly, apparently unhappy at being picked up, but didn't try to attack him as Zane expected it to. He held the cat in front of him, and the weight surprised him. It was more than just fur.

And the newcomer was also a male. Zane sighed, just before the cat started wriggling in an attempt to get away from him. He carefully placed it down again and watched as it tried to walk away.

It tumbled after a couple of steps, rolling instead of simply falling and almost immediately righting itself up. Zane frowned, wondering if the cat was injured somehow. It would explain why Ty brought home an otherwise clean and healthy-looking cat.

 _Ty_. Where the fuck was he, placing an _adult_ cat _on the bed_ with Zane and going right back out? Knowing him, he had left to get new cat food, but this cat could probably use some visit to a vet, with the way it was walking – or barely walking, he supposed.

New Cat was staring down at the floor and its paws, back to being confused instead of annoyed. Cricket mewed again, drawing its attention to her. She mewed again after it turned around.

Jiminy went back to the bed on the corner, and New Cat simply watched as he moved. Cricket walked over and nudged the larger cat's side, urging it to move as well. It would have been kind of sweet, were it not for the short, low growl that came out of the newcomer.

Suddenly, Zane wasn't so sure about how this encounter might go, and he scooped Cricket up before anything else could happen between the two cats. Ty's conniption over either of these cats getting hurt was something he'd rather avoid.

New Cat watched Zane move with a head tilted to the side, in clear curiosity, its tail swishing quietly from side to side. Zane placed the small tabby on the cat bed once again, then turned to walk to the bedside table to grab his phone. He could barely see the ears of the uncomfortably large cat from where he stood.

In a far more graceful movement than its walking attempts, New Cat leaped onto the bed and sat down once more, turning its head to watch Zane as he moved around the room. The cat seemed intent on watching him, and he found that somewhat disconcerting.

Zane dialed Ty's number without taking his eyes off of the cat. Something seemed off about the animal, but Zane couldn't tell what it was. He jumped slightly when the ringtone echoed in the bedroom, looking at it like it shouldn't be at Ty's bedside table at all. New Cat looked at him as if it was bored. Unimpressed.

The phone kept ringing, and the cat turned around, jumping onto the table. Zane groaned at the cat's apparent much better ability to jump around. New Cat nearly missed, though, and Zane allowed a brief moment of panic before it managed to pull itself up.

It sat beside the phone, and without breaking eye contact with Zane, moved a paw to hang up the call. It moved its paw upward and motioned as if pointing at it, tilting its head as if willing Zane to understand a message.

Zane frowned, looking between the cat and the phone. Ty hadn't gone out with it. Which would be a first; he never went anywhere without means of reaching out to someone in case something happened. Which probably meant he left in a hurry. But he went out and brought back a cat, and… What? Left the phone?

The other option, the one Zane was already berating himself for even considering, was that Ty hadn't left the house at all.

He turned his attention to the cat that was still sitting on the bedside table, looking at Zane with narrowed eyes, akin to an admittedly familiar glare.

Change whatever about Ty, you just couldn't change his eyes. Not even the color.

It was still absolute nonsense, but the question came out before Zane could reconsider. "Ty?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, this was not in fact the chaptered fic I have been working on. This happened as the result of discussing a comic some friends on discord, and here I am. I love a good shapeshifter story. And please appreciate that the only puns are in the title and the tag, it took a lot of restraint there.
> 
> However said restraint will not hold for later chapters.
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr](https://weresilver-in-space.tumblr.com/)!


	2. Understanding

He supposed it was just his luck, although he had no idea how _this_ came to be. At least he wasn't cold. He wasn't injured either. Right? Maybe he was, maybe he hit his head on some freak accident and was stuck in a coma dream. That was the only thing that made sense because waking up to fur, paws, and a tail seemed like a little too much.

Right now, Ty was sitting as primly as he could despite having no idea how to even walk. After nearly falling and taking the water bottle and phone off the table with him, he decided he'd move as little as possible. He ended the call as soon as he was still. Was the damn thing ever this loud? Ty did what he figured would equate to pointing at the phone, hoping Zane could figure out what he was trying to say.

He sure as hell couldn't speak. Not in a way Zane would actually understand.

"Ty?" Zane's tone was one of clear disbelief. He probably couldn't believe he was even considering, let alone asking that. Ty sat straighter all the same, losing a little of the glare in favor of simply hoping Zane could believe it. "What the fuck am I thinking?"

If Ty knew what the hell this was all about, maybe he could go about solving this problem, but as it stood, he was as clueless as Zane. And reasonably frustrated because the only ones who could understand him were his cats instead of his husband. Not that helpful in the grand scheme of things.

Zane tossed his phone to the bed, acknowledging it wouldn't be of much use at the moment, and crossed his arms. Ty followed the phone more attentively than he would have wanted to but turned his attention back to his husband as soon as the phone landed.

Both of them were silently staring at each other, a frown slowly marring Zane's features the longer he watched him. Ty was beginning to feel the need to move but didn't let himself. Zane took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm imagining things," he muttered with a shake of his head. He didn't move beyond that, though, still watching him.

Ty knew what he was doing. Zane had always been and always would be the type of person that looked at an issue from all angles before coming to a conclusion, but Ty didn't have the patience for that right now and wouldn't have it until he figured out how to go back to being himself.

They could figure out _what_ happened and _how_ it happened once Ty could properly communicate and was back in the group with opposable thumbs.

Zane moved to grab his phone again, although Ty had little to no idea of what he was planning to do. Did he intend to call the bookshop? He supposed it made sense, chances were that he _would_ have left in a hurry if the Company came calling before they were open. But he would've bothered to leave a note. And he still wouldn't have forgotten his phone.

A moment passed as Zane held the phone to his ears, but he cursed at the lack of response. Ty breathed in deeply and exhaled in a huff. Zane had already asked the right question but dismissed it because it wasn't based on some form of logic. Typical Garrett.

Zane started pacing, thoughtful, not really looking back at the cat he honestly thought was just a cat. Ty supposed he'd be more genuinely upset over it all if the man didn't look kind of cute when he was needlessly worrying. Well, sort of needlessly, he was still _a cat_.

Maybe half a minute of silently watching passed before something hit Ty's side and he jumped in surprise. And he went tumbling off the bedside table, taking his phone with him.

He looked up at Zane when he heard the man chuckle and step closer. He picked up the phone, placing it back on the table. The perspective – and size – change was throwing him off. Along with the fact he now had to figure out how to walk on four paws. And _literally_ had a tail, which he somehow managed to not realize he'd been moving and forget about.

"You're not very good at being a cat, are you?" Zane asked with amusement all over his expression and voice. Ty hoped that the noise that came out of him, something unfortunately between a growl and a meow, would suffice to show his annoyance. "Alright, Grumpy Cat," Zane said as he bent to pick him up as well and place him on the bed again, "Off the floor with you."

Ty stood almost motionless in the center of the bed as Zane sat heavily down on the end of it, reaching somewhere under the bed for the shoes they'd discarded the night before. He knew he would find not only his own pair. Zane's movements momentarily stopped, and Ty knew he'd just been proven right.

Moving one paw at a time, Ty managed to walk over to where Zane sat without tumbling over himself. Progress. Ty stood next to him and he could see the real worry that was beginning to show through his expression.

With a soft meow that _would_ have been Zane's name, Ty placed a paw on his arm. He could see, in the corner of his eyes, Jiminy and Cricket watching the two of them, but his full attention rested on his husband. Zane turned to look at him, apparently surprised that he sought him out. As if he would be getting rid of him that easily.

He reached out with a finger to scratch the top of Ty's head, wary as he'd always been with animals. Ty tilted his head upwards, almost unconsciously leaning into the touch that was, thankfully, not too different from what he was used to.

Zane smiled, growing just a little more confident, enough to start running his fingers through the fur. Ty had to admit it felt good. His hand ran from his head, down his back, then up again, and Zane would repeat the motion, distracted enough and seemingly content on petting a cat that hadn't attacked him.

Ty sat down after a few seconds and gracelessly flopped onto Zane's lap, who shook his head as he laughed at the move. "Aren't you a friendly one," he commented neutrally as he resumed the petting.

Ty wasn't sure how much time they passed like that; Zane knew better than to move him and go off somewhere, and Ty just couldn't bother to keep track when the petting had turned _this_ relaxing. But Zane's hand stilled when his fingers caught on something on his skin under all the goddamn fur.

A scar. Ty's head shot up to look at Zane when the man started looking for other signs of injury, and he let him. Zane knew Ty's scars as well as he knew Zane's. Maybe that would finally convince Zane that his husband hadn't gone anywhere.

Not that Ty was sure he believed it himself, but the number of times he'd tumbled and fallen would have already woken him up if he were dreaming.

Zane pulled his hands away after a little over a minute of examination. He was frowning harder than before, and Ty could finally see that understanding was dawning on him. "I'm not… This is actually happening?" Ty managed to wiggle his way off of Zane's lap and sit back on the bed, looking into Zane's eyes without moving too much other than the tail. He'd learned that lesson. Whatever Zane saw made the man groan and run his hands over his face. "It's actually happening," he muttered, turning back to Ty. "What the fuck is going on?"

Ty cocked his head to the side. Even if he did know, he couldn't quite tell Zane what it was, could he? Bottom line was that he woke up as a cat and he had no idea how to go back to being a human.

Zane sighed, "Forget it. I'm still talking to a cat." Ty huffed an offended sort of noise and turned away from Zane. The man chuckled despite himself and gently poked Ty's head. Ty tried to swat his hand away with no success. "Well, at least you _are_ in there, I guess."

Ty narrowed his eyes in a glare, but Zane's attention wasn't quite on him anymore. He was back to that distant, thoughtful expression. If Ty had to guess, he was trying to come up with an explanation, a logical reason as to why his husband had turned into a cat. Ty would have laughed at the absurdity of it all if he actually could. There was no logical explanation for the morning so far. 

Instead, Ty gave a tiny step closer to Zane and bit his forearm with just enough strength to bring his attention back to the present. Zane gasped in surprise more than any actual pain, he hoped, and pulled his arm away a split second later.

Before he could voice any complaints, Jiminy meowed loudly, and both turned to the cats still on their bed. Cricket was lying down, uninterested in the sort-of exchange, while Jiminy was watching them in annoyance. Given the morning discovery, no one bothered with breakfast just yet, and the kittens were tired of waiting.

Ty jumped off the bed, taking advantage of the distraction, and sat down again a few feet away from Zane, looking at him as innocently as he could manage. By the narrowed-eye glare he received, it worked. But there were things to be done, starting with food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In theory, I could wait until morning to post this. But I'm impatient. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Chapters might be named from here on out provided I manage to think of titles. If not, they will be added later.


End file.
